Above class open to graduates only
A portion of the above class reserved for majors
Above class meets with CULS-C 701
East Africa, geographically conceived as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda,
Rwanda and Burundi, has traditionally been studied as a region tied
together by longstanding trading connections, Islam, and Swahili
language and culture. In the colonial and postcolonial eras, East
African identities were increasingly by different forms of
Christianity, nationalist sentiments, and European languages such as
English and French. This readings course will explore recent trends
in Eastern African scholarship, with the underlying goal of
assessing how Eastern Africa might be conceptually reconceived in
light of this scholarship. What is Eastern Africa, and how is it
been represented historically? How might our understandings of
Eastern Africa be reshaped if we look at it as a crossroads
between “North” and “South”? How might lenses such as gender,
military, and cultural history reshape our understandings of Eastern
Africa, its ties to other parts of Africa, and its links to the rest
of the world?
This course is designed for history and African Studies graduate
students who want to become familiar with recent scholarly
literature on Eastern Africa and the preceding historiography that
has shaped it. In the process, students will also learn key themes
in East African regional history. There are no prerequisites for the
course. Students will be evaluated through a combination of short
readings-based essays, presentations, and a final paper.